Chapter 18: Difficulties With A Dragonewt (Part 5)
"Digging the new ground floor bathroom?" Smith asks, talking to me via my phone.
"You know, color me surprised. I anticipated that it would be just like the one upstairs but it's just a simple toilet and sink," I answer, astonished.
"Well, of course. One bathtub is more than enough with it being as big as it is," she says.
For once, there seems to be nothing extra attached.
That deserves to be rewarded.
"I like it very much. Thanks, Kuroko," I chuckle lightly.
"I'm glad to hea- did y-you just call me by my f-first name?" She stutters.
"Maybe I did… Ku-ro-ko," I say seductively, putting a slow emphasis on her name.
"I-I'm at work right now. Please don't do this to me, Sweetheart," she begs.
"Alright, I'll call you later. Bye, Kuroro!" I snicker.
"You even have a pet name for me already?!" Smith exclaims with disbelief.
I hear a loud splattering sound that's accompanied by a thud.
I think I might've pushed it too far.
"Hey, Smith! Are you okay over there?" I ask, slightly worried.
"I-It's all good," she answers, happily giggling.
"Hey, Smith! I was wonderi- what in the world! Why are you covered in blood?!" I can hear Zombina shout.
"Gotta go! Bye, Sweetheart!" Smith yells, hanging up abruptly.
I'm gonna assume she got a nosebleed.
Going to the laundry room, I check the dryer:
It's full of Draco's stuff.
"Draco! Your laundry is done!" I announce, raising my voice for her to hear me while I put her things in a basket.
Taking a few seconds, she walks in.
"Here you go," I say, ready to hand her the basket.
"I can do this stuff myself," she says, frowning while snatching it from my hands.
That's weird.
"Woke up on the wrong side of the bed today?" I question.
"Fuck off," she says angrily.
Okay, that's a first.
"You can tone it down. It's not like Polt or Lilith can hear us," I say.
"What's there to tone down when I mean it?" She asks.
Did I miss something?
"You were just fine yesterday and almost every day before that. What has set you off?" I remark.
"Shut up! Yesterday was stupid of me!" She retorts.
"What are you saying?! That yesterday was a mistake?!" I shout.
"It very much was! It should've never happened! To think that I let myself do that shit!" She yells, getting in my face.
An invisible arrow pierces through my heart.
It… it hurts so much!
"So that's how you really feel?" I mutter, my hair hiding my eyes from view.
Giving me bitter silence, she starts to leave.
No! I refuse to let her do this!
I quickly grab her left wrist, stopping her.
"I am your host and you will answer me," I say, trying to keep my voice stable.
"Yeah… that's how I feel. Being here has done nothing but waste everyone's time," she says.
"I don't think that in the slightest and neither do they! We want you to stay but clearly you still feel different about this whole thing," I say.
"I've tried to give a chance and it's not working for me so I'm done," she says, snatching her wrist from me.
I hug her from behind.
"Draco… is it really that difficult to open up to me when I have proven that what I said back on the first day wasn't bullshit? Just tell me what's wrong and I'll try to fix it," I say.
"I told you what's wrong! I want to leave!" She exclaims.
"Will that really make you happy? Is that what you honestly want?" I question softly.
"It… it is," she replies, breaking away from me and going to her room.
I slowly walk back to my room with my head hanging low.
Polt sees me come in and immediately notices my drab mood.
"Something the matter, Ryuta?" She asks, worried as she comes up to me.
"Polt… could you go downstairs for a few hours? I just need to be alone right now," I say.
Her ears droop.
"Oh… okay," she says.
After giving me a brief hug, she walks out.
Closing the door, I lay down on my bed and curl up.
I thought everything was working out nicely.
It seemed that way at least.
Especially after yesterday.
Do I call Smith and tell her Draco is finished or do I keep trying despite Draco wanting out?
I promised Smith to do my best no matter what but at the same time, I don't want Draco living here if she'll never be happy with this.
I just don't know what I'm supposed to do!
Hours quickly pass by as I remain paralyzed with sorrow.
Hearing the door open, I don't even look to see who it is.
"Ryuta, are you supposed to be cooking?" Lilith asks, coming up to my bedside.
"Not today. Just go fish something out of the freezer or get Polt to cook," I answer.
"What's wrong, Sweetheart?" She says tenderly while rubbing my shoulder.
"Stuff," I say.
"Wanna tell me what kinda stuff?" She says.
"I'm not in the mood to talk about it," I mumble.
"Allow me to cheer you up," she says.
Before I can speak, her lips meet with mine.
She lovingly strokes the back of my head.
"Feel better now?" She questions.
"A little bit," I reply.
"Quit all of that sulking. I have something important to show you so get out of the bed," she says.
"Alright," I sigh.
"Then c'mon already!" She exclaims, grabbing my arm and pulling me onto my feet.
Exiting my room, Lilith holds a finger over her lips, telling me to be quiet.
Carefully walking downstairs, we lay up against the wall, crouching.
Peeking into the living room, we see Polt and Draco sitting on the couch, facing each other.
"Why are we spying on them?" I whisper.
"Shhh. Just listen," Lilith mutters.
"What's so important that I needed to be down here?" Draco sighs.
"I need to talk to you," Polt says.
"Ugghh," Draco groans.
"What did you say to Ryuta today? Because I don't think I've ever seen him so upset before," Polt says, a slight frown on her face.
"I was very hostile, told him yesterday was a mistake, and that I wanted to leave," Draco summarizes reluctantly.
"That's weird because it seemed like you were getting along with him just fine until today. What makes today so different?" Polt points out.
"Nothing," Draco admits begrudgingly.
"For as long as you have been here, do you still perceive Ryuta to be a bad guy?" Polt asks.
"O-Of course I don't," Draco answers
S-She doesn't?
"Then what's going on?" Polt says.
"I just want to leave," Draco grumbles.
"You want to give up a host that has been nothing but sweet and caring who also makes sure you are fed and taken care of? You even have two of your friends here," Polt says.
"So what?! You and Lilith aren't my friends either!" Draco shouts.
Polt slaps Draco, causing Lilith and myself to let out a small gasp.
Wincing, Draco touches her right cheek.
"You're not stupid, Draco. Stop being so goddamn stubborn about this! Do you really wanna throw this away?!" Polt berates.
"No… No, I don't," Draco says hesitantly.
"Then what are you doing?" Polt questions, bringing her voice back down.
"I-I don't know," Draco says, confused.
"This feels like it shouldn't be as complicated as you seem to make it," Polt sighs.
"It didn't get complicated until yesterday," Draco clarifies.
"Both of you messed around. Is that what happened?" Polt guesses.
Taking a deep breath first, Draco explains the details of the other day albeit getting off track a few times.
"… I understand it completely now," Polt says, bringing her right fist down on her left palm.
"You do?!" Draco says, surprised.
"You don't need to hear this part," Lilith says, clasping her hands over my ears.
"Hey! You brought me down here. The least I can do is hear the whole thing," I whisper, trying to get Lilith to remove her hands.
Managing to free my ears, I hold Lilith's hands together to prevent her interfering again.
"It's okay for you to keep listening now anyway," she says, playfully sticking her tongue out at me.
"I-I don't think I can do that!" Draco stammers.
"Of course you can! You just gotta go for it!" Polt assures.
"Y-You really think so?" Draco questions.
"Without a doubt!" Polt exclaims.
Draco hugs Polt.
"Thanks, Polt. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I was just so frustrated," Draco apologizes.
"No worries. I know you didn't mean it," Polt says.
"We need to go," Lilith says.
"Yeah, it sounds like it's over," I agree.
Picking up Lilith, I put her on my back and stealthily retreat to my room.
Would've been nice to understand what that last part was about but I'm sure Lilith has valid reasons to prevent me from hearing that one part.
"Did that lift you out of the dumps?" She asks as she disembarks from my back.
"It certainly did! Thank you for that, Lilith," I smile, ruffling her hair.
"No problem. Now are you gonna cook or what?" She questions.
I figured there was an ulterior motive to that.
"I'm good for it now!" I shout eagerly.
"Good to hear that," she chuckles.
Whenever you're ready, we'll fix this, Draco!